1. Technical Field
The following disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, there is known an image forming apparatus having a main body accommodating an image carrying member on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a developing unit configured to apply toner to the electrostatic latent image to form a developed image (i.e., a toner image), and a moving mechanism configured to move the developing unit between a contact position where the developing unit contacts the image carrying member, and a spaced position where the developing unit is spaced from the image carrying member has been known. Typically, such a cover is provided to the image forming apparatus so as to open/close an opening formed on a surface of the main body. Such a cover is moved to the open position when the developing unit is removed from the main body.
In a conventional image forming apparatus as described above, a link mechanism is further employed. The link mechanism includes a plurality of link members and gear trains which are arranged between the cover and the moving mechanism. The link mechanism operates the moving mechanism in association with the opening movement of the cover member such that the developing unit is located at a removable position (i.e., the spaced position) so that the user can remove the developing unit from the main body.
It is also known another image forming apparatus which has a main body, an image carrying member, a developing unit, a driving force transmitting unit, a transmission enable/disable mechanism, a cover and a link member. The driving force transmitting mechanism transmits a driving force generated by a driving source to the image carrying member. The transmission enable/disable mechanism is configured to move the driving force transmitting mechanism between a transmission position allowing the driving force transmitting mechanism to transmit the driving force, and a cutoff position at which the transmission enable/disable mechanism prevents the driving force transmitting mechanism from transmitting the driving force to the image carrying member.
In this conventional apparatus, the link member moves in association with opening/closing movement of the cover. Specifically, the link member moves the transmission enable/disable mechanism in association with opening movement of the cover member such that the transmission enable/disable mechanism moves the driving force transmitting unit to the cutoff position. With this configuration, it becomes unnecessary to move the driving force transmitting mechanism to the transmission cutoff position separately from the cover opening operation, which improves operation for maintenance of the image forming apparatus.